The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David:
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7 Moreover Achitophel said unto Avshalom, Let me now choose out shneym asar elef ish, and I will arise and pursue after Dovid halailah (this night);
2 And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only:
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And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak of hands, and will make him tremble with fear; and kol haAm that are with him shall flee; and I will strike HaMelech only;
3 And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace.
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When I return kol HaAm to you, all except the ish whom thou seekest, it is as if [kol HaAm] returned; so kol haAm shall be in shalom.
4 And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel.
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And the saying pleased Avshalom well, and kol Ziknei Yisroel.
5 Then Absalom said, Now send for Hushai the Archite, and let us give ear to what he has to say.
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Then said Avshalom, Call now Chushai the Archi also, and let us hear likewise from his peh (mouth).
6 And when Hushai came, Absalom said to him, This is what Ahithophel has said: are we to do as he says? if not, what is your suggestion?
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And when Chushai was come to Avshalom, Avshalom spoke unto him, saying, Achitophel hath spoken after this manner; shall we do after his saying? If not; speak thou.
7 And Hushai said to Absalom, Ahithophel's idea is not a good one at this time.
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And Chushai said unto Avshalom, The etza (counsel) that Achitophel hath given is not tovah at this time.
8 Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people;
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For, said Chushai, thou knowest Avicha and his anashim, that they be Gibborim, and they be enraged in their nefesh, as a dov (bear) robbed of her cubs in the sadeh; and Avicha is ish milchamah, and will not spend the night with HaAm (the troops).
9 But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side.
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Hinei, he is hid now in one of the pits, or in some other makom; and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the outset, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a magefah (slaughter) among the people that follow Avshalom.
10 Then even the strongest, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will become like water; for all Israel is conscious that your father is a man of war, and those who are with him are strong and without fear.
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And he also that is chayil (valiant), whose lev is as the lev ha’aryeh (heart of a lion), shall utterly melt; for kol Yisroel knoweth that Avicha is a Gibbor, and they that be with him are Bnei Chayil (valiant men).
11 But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them.
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Therefore, I counsel that kol Yisroel be fully gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-Sheva, as the chol (sand) that is by the yam for multitude; and that thou thyself go into battle in person.
12 Then we will come on him in some place, wherever he may be, falling on him as the dew comes on the earth: and of him and all the men who are with him not one will get away with his life.
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So shall we come upon him in some makom where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the tal (dew) falleth on the adamah; and of him and of kol ha’anashim that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13 And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there.
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Moreover, if he has withdrawn into a city, then shall kol Yisroel bring chavalim (ropes) to that city, and we will draw it into the ravine, until there be not one small stone found there.
14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom.
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And Avshalom and kol Ish Yisroel said, The etza (counsel) of Chushai the Arki is better than the etza of Achitophel. For Hashem had resolved to annul the etza of Achitophel, to the intent that Hashem might bring ra’ah upon Avshalom.
15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, This is the suggestion made by Ahithophel to Absalom and the responsible men of Israel, and this is what I said to them.
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Then said Chushai unto Tzadok and to Evyatar (Abiathar) the kohanim, Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Avshalom and the Ziknei Yisroel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16 So now send the news quickly to David, and say, Do not take your night's rest by the way across the river to the waste land, but be certain to go over; or the king and all the people with him will come to destruction.
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Now therefore send quickly, and tell Dovid, saying, Spend not halailah (this night) in the plains of the midbar, but speedily cross over; lest HaMelech be swallowed up, and kol haAm that are with him.
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting by En-rogel; and a servant-girl went from time to time and gave them news and they went with the news to King David, for it was not wise for them to let themselves be seen coming into the town.
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Now Yonatan and Achima’atz stayed by Ein-Rogel; for they dared not be seen to come into the Ir; and a shifchah went and told them; and they went and told Dovid HaMelech.
18 But a boy saw them, and gave word of it to Absalom: so the two of them went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a water-hole in his garden, and they went down into it.
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Nevertheless a na’ar saw them, and told Avshalom; but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a bais ish in Bachurim, which had a be’er (well) in his khatzer; to where they went down.
19 And a woman put a cover over the hole, and put crushed grain on top of it, and no one had any knowledge of it.
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And the isha took and spread a masakh (covering, curtain) over the mouth of the be’er, and spread hulled grain thereon; and the thing was not known.
20 And Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone from here to the stream. And after searching for them, and seeing nothing of them, they went back to Jerusalem.
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And when the avadim of Avshalom came to the bais to the isha, they said, Where is Achima’atz and Yonatan? And the isha said unto them, They are gone over the brook of mayim. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Yerushalayim.
21 Then after the servants had gone away, they came up out of the water-hole and went to give King David the news; and they said, Get up and go quickly over the water, for such and such are Ahithophel's designs against you.
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And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they climbed up out of the be’er (well), and went and told Dovid HaMelech, and said unto Dovid, Arise, and cross quickly over the mayim; for thus hath Achitophel counselled against you.
22 So David and all the people who were with him went up over Jordan: when dawn came, every one of them had gone over Jordan.
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Then Dovid arose, and kol haAm that were with him, and they crossed over Yarden; by the ohr haboker there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Yarden.
23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his suggestion was not acted on, he got his ass ready, and went back to his house, to the town where he came from, and having put his house in order, he put himself to death by hanging; so he came to his end and was put in the resting-place of his father.
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And when Achitophel saw that his etza (counsel, advice) was not followed, he saddled his chamor, and arose, and went home to his bais, to his town, and put his bais (household) in order, vayyekhanak (and he strangled, hanged himself), and died, and was buried in the kever aviv (tomb of his father).
24 And David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom, with all the men of Israel, went over Jordan.
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Then Dovid came to Machanayim. And Avshalom passed over Yarden, he and all the Ish Yisroel with him.
25 And Absalom put Amasa at the head of the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite, who had been the lover of Abigail, the daughter of Jesse, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
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And Avshalom appointed Amasa over the tzava (army) instead of Yoav; now Amasa was ben ish shmo Yitra a Yisroeli, that went in to Avigal Bat Nachash Achot Tzeruyah Em Yoav.
26 And Israel and Absalom put up their tents in the land of Gilead.
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So Yisroel and Avshalom encamped in Eretz Gil‘ad.
27 Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the Ammonite, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
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And it came to pass, when Dovid was come to Machanayim, that Shovi Ben Nachash of Rabbah of the Bnei Ammon, and Machir Ben Ammiel of Lo-Devar, and Barzillai the Gileadi of Roglim,
28 Came with beds and basins and pots, and grain and meal, and all sorts of dry foods,
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Brought mishkav (bedding) and sappot (bowls) and earthen vessels, and chittim (wheat), and se’orim (barley), and kemakh (flour), and roasted grain, and pol (beans), and adashim (lentils), and roasted seeds,
29 And honey and butter and sheep and milk-cheeses, for David and his people: for they said, This people is in the waste land, needing food and drink and rest.
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And devash, and khemah (curds), and tzon, and cheeses of the herd, for Dovid, and for HaAm that were with him, to eat; for they said, HaAm are hungry, and weary, and tzameh (thirsty), in the midbar.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.